False Warning: Tsunami Test Alert Causes Scare

People along the US East and Gulf Coasts received a startling “Tsunami Warning” message on their phones Tuesday, after a routine monthly test message was mistakenly pushed out by some weather apps as a real warning.

The National Weather Service sent the test message via the Emergency Alert System at around 8:30 a.m.

A monthly Tsunami Warning test was issued around 830 am by @NWS_NTWC . We have been notified that some users received this test message as an actual Tsunami Warning. A Tsunami Warning is not in effect. Repeat, a Tsunami Warning is not in effect #chswx#gawx#savwx#scwx

The message “was intended to only go to state warning points and certain other government agencies.” However, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, “some news and weather services picked up the test message and posted it on their apps and via social media.”

The push alerts and urgent messages people received on their phones did not make it clear that the warning was a test.